Asterix Kieldrecht celebrate their victory in the final of the Belgian Cup

Antwerp, Belgium, February 14, 2016 – Belgian men’s club Knack Roeselare and women’s club Asterix Kieldrecht were crowned winners of the annual Lotto Cup finals at the Antwerp Sporpaleis on Sunday.

Knack Roeselare and Asterix Kieldrecht won in straight sets to claim their ninth and 13th title, respectively.

Knack Roeselare, which last won the Belgian Cup three years ago, had a shaky start against Antwerpen, the same team they lost the tie-breaker in the final in 2014. Most recently, Knack Roeselare lost again to Antwerpen, with both their second teams on floor.

In the final match, young Belgian talent Jolan Cox and Polish middle blocker Mateusz Przybyla gave Antwerpen a 21-19 advantage, but Pieter Coolman’s feisty serves held Antwerpen defenders helpless and stuck at the 21-point mark. Knack Roeselare prevailed 25-21. Knack Roeselare showed strong defence with some spectacular saves, while Hendrik Tuerlinckx took care of their offence for an easy second set victory 25-19.

Antwerpen tried to stay close but did their eight net faults and twelve service faults caused them the match at 25-20.

“We will fly to Teruel, Spain, on Monday to play the quarterfinals of the CEV Cup,” Coolman said. “I’m sure this victory will help our team to gain a lot of confidence, while this hasn’t stopped us from dreaming of something bigger than winning only the Cup.”

Meanwhile, coach Gert Vende Broek’s young team of Asterix Kieldrecht won the first two sets easily 25-15 and 25-18 against Datovoc Tongeren. In the third set, Tongeren, showed some lustre in their game that forced a deadlock at 22-all. However, captain Sarah Smits led Kieldrecht to snap the deadlock to end set and match with three straight points.